Children and family offer

In North Lincolnshire we want to enable parents and carers to give their children the best start in life. There is lots of information and support available, including:

Maternity services

For information about maternity services local to you, general pregnancy and birth advice, and information on more specialist services including post-natal mental health services visit the Humber and North Yorkshire Maternity services website.

Perinatal mental health support

Perinatal mental health issues – those which occur during pregnancy or during the baby’s first year – affect one in five women and could have long-lasting effects on the woman and her family if left untreated. But many perinatal mental health issues are treatable and recognising the signs early and seeking support quickly improves recovery and outcomes for mums and their babies. Find out more on the Every Mum Matters website.

Find out how to register a birth, who can register, get a birth certificate or re-register a birth on the Register a birth webpage.

Healthy Start scheme

Individuals who are more than ten weeks pregnant or have a child under four years old could be entitled to financial support to buy nutritious food, milk and vitamins.

If eligible, the family will receive a Healthy Start card that can be used in a variety of shops and will topped up every four weeks.

Visit the NHS website for more information and to apply.

Help with childcare costs

If you are looking for childcare or need help with the cost of childcare, visit the Family Information page.  Lots of information about how to find a registered childcare provider, how you can apply for help with childcare costs, funding available and information for working families.

Imagination Library

Free books for children from birth to five years is available across the whole of North Lincolnshire. All children from birth to five years who live in North Lincolnshire are eligible to register.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a 60 volume set of books. Each month a new, carefully selected book will be delivered to your home and addressed to your child. Best of all it is a free gift! There is no cost or obligation to your family. Find out how to register on the Imagination Library page.

Child development 0 to five

For information about feeding your baby, breastfeeding challenges, learning to talk, weaning and much more, visit the NHS Start for Life webpage.

Read about baby reviews, teething, potty training, learning, height and weight on the NHS baby’s development webpage.

Children develop at different rates. Doncaster Health Visiting team supports and empowers you to help your child achieve their potential. As part of our core health visiting offer you will be offered a number of reviews which gives you the opportunity to talk about your child’s general development. Find out more on the Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber (RDaSH) website.

Speech and language therapy services

We support children and young people from birth through to 19 years old who have speech, language and communication needs and / or difficulties with feeding and drinking linked with oral skills and swallowing. Find out more about our services on the NLaG website.

Health and Wellbeing Service

The North Lincolnshire 0-19 – 25 SEND – Health and Wellbeing service offers the children, young people and families of North Lincolnshire the opportunity of accessing a seamless integrated Health Visiting and School Nursing service. The team lead the Healthy Child Programme and provide a series of public health interventions from the antenatal period to age 19 and up to the age of 25 for young people with special educational needs. Visit the North Lincolnshire Health and Wellbeing Service website for more information and advice including health visitors and school nurses.

Positive activities

Positive Activities are a range of activities for young people to enjoy and take part in. They include:

• • Sports, leisure and culture
  • Young Voice and engagement
  • Volunteering
  • Youth clubs and informal social activities

As well as supporting communities and local groups, and working with others to keep spaces safe for children and young people, they arrange a number of positive activities for young people. These take place in towns and villages across North Lincolnshire. The Positive Activities offer is available online.

Life Central

Life Central has been created as a free emotional health and wellbeing resource for young people, parents, carers and professionals in the North Lincolnshire area. There are a wide range of topics covered on the site, from school nursing to bereavements but the aim is to add topics as requested and make it as easy as possible for you to find your way around.

For children and young people there is advice for looking after your mind and body, relationships, school, keeping safe, and where you can get help.

For parents and carers, there is advice on looking after young people’s mind and body, including eating well, bereavement, drugs, relationships and much more.

If you need help to find suitable childcare go to the Family Information Directory (FIDY) website. Here you will find contact details for all Ofsted registered childcare settings in North Lincolnshire.

Once you have found and chosen a quality childcare provider, the next step is to look at what assistance is available to help you pay for your childcare.

There are several different schemes available to help parents and carers pay their childcare costs, depending on their individual family circumstances. For more information please see our help with childcare costs page.  You can also visit the Childcare Choices website where you will also find a handy calculator to help you work out which scheme will benefit you the most.

If you need additional help to find suitable childcare or advice on funding, please contact the Family Information Service on fis@northlincs.gov.uk. We provide free, impartial information, advice and guidance on registered childcare, children’s activities and can signpost you to local and national services offering support to families.

Safeguarding concern and referral

If you are ever concerned that a child is in immediate danger please call the police on 999.

Safeguarding children and young people is the responsibility of everyone. If you are concerned that a child is being abused or they may be at risk of harm, you should contact and make a referral to our Single Point of Contact team on:

01724 297000 (9am to 5pm Monday to Thursday, 9am to 4.30pm Friday)
08081 689667 (free phone)
01724 296555 (answerphone – out of office hours and at weekends )
101 – Police non emergency
999 – Police emergency

Further information about safeguarding children and young people is available on our keeping children safe page.

Support for children and young people

If you are a child or young person and need help, you should speak to a trusted adult or a professional you already know.  There is also lots of online information below:

• Children and young people can get support about their concerns online from Childline or by calling 0800 1111
• The NSPCC website has information on preventing abuse and helping those affected to recover.
• If you are concerned about grooming and child sexual exploitation, there is more information on the Not In Our Community website.
• The Thinkuknow website has advice on how children and young people can stay safe online.

Read further information about keeping children safe in North Lincolnshire. 

If you need help and advice about your money worries, or providing enough food for you and your children there are people who can help:

• Crosby Community Association – support people with FREE advice and guidance in areas of welfare benefits, housing issues, debt, Council Tax, disability rights and much more. Visit the Crosby Community Association to find out more.
• Trussell Trust has lots of useful information about accessing food banks, check you are claiming the correct benefits and possible grants you may be entitled to. Visit the Trussell Trust website for more details.
• Citizens Advice North Lincolnshire – is a local independent charity part of the Citizens Advice Network and their goal is to help everyone find a way forward, whatever problem they face. They provide free, confidential and impartial advice to people in North Lincolnshire, alongside campaigning for many issues affecting people’s lives. Visit the Citizens Advice website for advice about energy bills, food bank vouchers, paying your Council Tax, claiming compensation, gambling and much more.
• The council’s financial support, advice and guidance page has advice on managing your debts, help to pay your Council Tax, apply for housing benefit, home assistance for vulnerable home owners, help with childcare funding, finding a job, looking after your mental health and much more.
• Money Helper – Free impartial help with money, savings, pensions and retirement, debt advice and scams visit the Money Helper website.

If you cannot find what you are looking for online and need a conversation, there is always someone on hand to offer advice and guidance. Most people prefer to speak to a professional they already know, such as a health visitor or teacher. But if you would like advice and guidance about any aspect of looking after your children, please call our Family Support Service on 01724 297000 during office hours or leave a message and we will call you back. If we cannot help over the phone, or if you would prefer it, we can arrange to visit you at home.

If you would like to find out about the range of courses available to parents and carers, please visit our Adult Education and Community Learning website.

Examples of courses include:

• Baby play and baby massage
• Family arts and crafts for wellbeing
• Cooking on a budget
• Stress awareness.

Fostering

Being a foster parent means caring for a child as part of your family. To become a foster parent you need to be:

• at least 21 years old
• a UK resident or have indefinite leave to remain
• able to take care of a child or young person, often on a full-time basis.

Find out more and register your interest on our Fostering page.

Adoption

In North Lincolnshire, adoptive parents are needed for children of all ages from a range of backgrounds. The Adoption team is looking for people who can offer love, time and commitment to a child.

Anyone who is over 21 can adopt – there is no upper age limit. You can be single or in a relationship; you can own or rent your home. We do not discriminate on the grounds of age, class, culture, disability, race or sexual orientation.

If you are interested in finding out more about adopting a child please visit our Adoption page.

Young People’s Mental Health

Thousands of young people deal with mental health problems every day and it’s important to know where to find the resources to help them. Visit the Young people’s mental health page for advice to help young people who are struggling and want help, but are not sure where to find it. There are a number of resources that focus on young people’s mental health and wellbeing, both national and local.

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)

North Lincolnshire CAMHS provides mental health assessments, therapy and interventions for children and young people up to the age of 18 years. Also to their families or identified carers when children and young people experiencing emotional or mental health difficulties.

They are a multi-disciplinary team of professionals based at St Nicholas House, Shelford Street, Scunthorpe, DN15 6NU. They provide assessment and interventions for young people and their families to help them gain an understanding of their difficulties and to find ways on how to manage, improve, and reduce the impact of their difficulties in their everyday lives. Visit the NHS CAMHS website for more information.

The Haven – late night mental health support

The Haven offers mental health support to people aged 16 and over in North Lincolnshire, when they may need help most. Anyone aged 16 years and over can call 01724 279500 from 4pm – 12 midnight 7-days a week. Trained staff are available to support people in managing their thoughts of self harm, distress, low mood and to help prevent crisis. If you don’t get through straight away, please leave your name and telephone number and a member of the team will call you back.  As well as offering support, professionals are also able to refer and direct onwards to further services if required.

NHS mental health support available round the clock

Now more than ever, mental health problems are affecting more people. Anyone living in North Lincolnshire who needs to talk to someone about their mental health can now ring Freephone 08081 968442 at any time, day or night.  Please pick up the phone, reach out for support and know someone is there to help you.

Please note: This service is for a non-emergency response only. Anyone in need of urgent mental support in a crisis should ring the specialist North Lincolnshire RDaSH team on 0800 015 0211.

With You

With You is a charity providing free, confidential support to people experiencing issues with drugs, alcohol or mental health, either themselves or for someone they are worried about. With You work with people on their own goals, whether that’s staying safe and healthy, making small changes or stopping an unwanted habit altogether. They give people support in a way that’s right for them either face to face in their local service, community or online. Visit the With You website today to get the support you need.

Whether you’re together or separated, the way you and your partner communicate can impact on your children. All relationships have tricky moments. It’s how they’re experienced and resolved that matters. For information and advice visit the Relationship Matters website

If you are afraid of your partner, or feeling that they control your life, then this is more likely to be domestic abuse. Please seek help. You can get confidential advice at The Blue Door.

For more information about safeguarding children please visit the Children’s Multi-Agency Resilience and Safeguarding (CMARS) website or the NSPCC website.

For support for families with children with special educational needs and disabilities, you will find a wealth of information on the North Lincolnshire Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Local Offer website.

Nutrition and weight management

Information and guidance about eating a healthy, balanced diet, food guidelines and food labels, 5 a day and digestive health is available on the NHS Eat well website.

Health and Wellbeing Service

The North Lincolnshire 0-19 – 25 SEND – Health and Wellbeing service offers the children, young people and families of North Lincolnshire the opportunity of accessing a seamless integrated Health Visiting and School Nursing service. The team lead the Healthy Child Programme and provide a series of public health interventions from the antenatal period to age 19 and up to the age of 25 for young people with special educational needs. Visit the North Lincolnshire Health and Wellbeing Service website for more information and advice including health visitors and school nurses.

Oral health

Information on caring for your teeth and how to access dental care can be found on our oral health webpage.  For people who are unable to use general dental services, including people with disabilities or special needs visit the NHS Community dental website.

DELTA

DELTA young people’s Drug and Alcohol Service provides information, advice and support to young people who are using drugs and/or alcohol. DELTA will not tell you what to do. However they will make sure you are fully aware of the risks and dangers of drug and alcohol use, and encourage you to keep safe. The service can help you to cut down or stop using drugs. You can if you wish self-refer in to their service, though depending on your age they may need permission for your parent/carer. You can contact DELTA on 01724 298528.
Address: 22-24 Cole Street, Scunthorpe, DN15 6QS

NHS stop smoking services

Local stop smoking services are free, friendly and can massively boost your chances of quitting for good. These services staffed by expert advisers provide a range of proven methods to help you quit. They’ll give you accurate information and advice, as well as professional support, during the first few months you stop smoking. Find out more at NHS stop smoking.

North Lincolnshire Youth Justice Partnership (YJP)

The YJP work with children and young people aged 10 to 18 years to help prevent them from becoming involved in anti-social or offending behaviour or getting into further trouble. They work with a variety of partner organisations, young people, parents and carers to reduce youth offending, protect the public and victims from youth crime and prevent re-offending. They do this by helping young people make better choices and decisions. They concentrate on engaging young people in positive activities, education, training and employment that will keep them safe, divert them away from crime and help them improve their life chances and opportunities. Visit the Youth Justice Partnership page for more information.

Positive Activities

Positive Activities are a range of activities for young people to enjoy and take part in. They include:

• • Sports, leisure and culture
  • Young Voice and engagement
  • Volunteering
  • Youth clubs and informal social activities

As well as supporting communities and local groups, and working with others to keep spaces safe for children and young people, they arrange a number of positive activities for young people. These take place in towns and villages across North Lincolnshire. The Positive Activities offer is available online

LiveWell North Lincolnshire

Live Well North Lincolnshire is a one-stop place for residents and visitors to find a wide range of organisations; support groups, community groups, events and activities for adults and children that can help improve their health and wellbeing.

Housing advice team

Contact the team if you have any questions or problems about housing. They are happy to assist tenants, homeowners and landlords with any issues you might have. Please note that the team are not qualified to give legal advice. You will need to speak to a solicitor if you have any legal questions.

HomeChoice Lincs

The self help option on HomeChoiceLincs is a tool is for North Lincolnshire residents only. It will ask you a series of questions and then guide you through the different options you can explore to improve your housing situation.

Shelter

You can contact the housing charity, Shelter, for free housing advice on 0808 800 4444. They can help you understand your rights and get you the support you need. They can help with homelessness advice, benefits and money problems, tenancy deposits, private renting, repairs, eviction and mortgage arrears and repossession. Visit the Shelter website for help and advice.

Ongo

Ongo can help with advice relating to renting or buying a home, retirement living and homes on new developments.  They also can support you with your journey into work (free employment support and specialist mental health support), financial support, health and safety and property maintenance. Visit the Ongo website to find out more.

Schools and colleges in North Lincolnshire

There are 77 schools in North Lincolnshire: 13 secondary schools, four junior schools, five  infant schools, 53 primary schools and two special schools. 36 of the primary and infant schools have nursery provision. Three of the secondary schools have sixth-forms offering a wide range of courses and quality post 16 provision. We also have two colleges in North Lincolnshire and a University Technical College.

• Apply for a school place
• Apply for school transport
• Apply for a school clothing grant and free school meals

North Lincolnshire SEND Local Offer website

The Local Offer in North Lincolnshire has lots of information for families of children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). It provides information about education, health and care services, and includes resources, services, support groups, leisure activities, events, training and much more. Visit the SEND Local Offer website. The SEND team can be contacted on special.needssection@northlincs.gov.uk.

Activities for families

Take a look at our Activities for families webpage. There are lots of ideas for adults as well as children including photography, staying active, virtual museum tours and wildlife and nature.

FUELLED

FUELLED is a free holiday provision – including healthy food and enriching activities – for children in receipt of benefits-related free school meals.  All Fuelled activities will provide young people with the opportunity to get involved in physical activity and everyone will be provided with a free healthy meal at each activity. Further information and how to register and book activities is available on the Fuelled webpage.

LiveWell North Lincolnshire

LiveWell North Lincolnshire is a one-stop place for residents and visitors to find a wide range of organisations; support groups, community groups, events and activities that can help improve their health and wellbeing. You can also find activities for children and young people.